Well, I ment that in the way that I KNOW that he IS male but bungie could have just as easily made him a woman by doing nothing more then changing the script. I ment it in that despite the fact the the MC is male it wouldn't have changed a single aspect of the game had he been female.
According to the link provided the consern wasn't about taste but contamination. Aparently Siliva can contaminate brest milk and spoil it in a matter of hours. Meaning that a few hours after the taste test it would have been useless. Also the security refused to allow her to squirt it on her wrist and lick it off to help prevent contamination.
The real problem with airport security is that they fear what they don't know, and typically being the low-wage uneducated types they don't know much...
The only other female character I can think of that doesn't exploit the female form is Nicole from the Halo games... recently featured in DOA4.
While not a main character she's a spartain and wears the same armor as the Master Chief. Using her in DOA4 it's odd to see what LOOKS like the Master Chief but with a distinctivly female voice. Considering the spartains can be any gender... there's no reason the Master Chief couldn't have been a woman as well.
While MS hasn't announced an official price for the HD-DVD drive they have stated numerous times that an Xbox 360 + HD-DVD drive will be LESS then the cost of a PS3...
This still leaves a big window seeing as they haven't said WHICH version of the 360 ($300 or $400) or WHICH version of the PS3 ($500 or $600) so it prices the drive anywhere between $100 and $300... If you want to tack on the "cheapest HD-DVD player on the market" comment (current cheapest is $500) and consider you'd have to buy an Xbox 360 to use it that would price the HD-DVD add on between $100 and $200.
Considering I already own an Xbox 360 for the gaming aspect a between $100 and $200 external player is a very tempting and reasonably priced offer if I ever decide to go HD-DVD... If the player were to to be higher then $200 then one would assume that the Price of the Xbox 360 itself would be going down, which wouldn't be a bad thing either.
I also agree with the first poster... BRAVO for not MAKING me buy into a next gen video tech until I'm good and ready.
true, I would think if there were more homebrew fans the GPX2s would be more of a competitor... it's a great and interesting plaform but it's certainly not a competitor.
Speaking of homebrew I hear all sorts of Sony fans going on and on about how the PS3 will run Linux and allow for homebrew games. Maybe I'm missing something but I seriously have to question why they would make the PS3 an open platform when in the past they've done nothing but try to stomp out homebrew efforts like those on the PSP.
I totally agree. It's all in the details, the intricate thought behind the piece. I think what makes high-brow high-brow is something that can only really be appreciated by those who care to look for the subtleties. I think in most cases the majority of people are bored to death by a high-brow movie, album, painting, etc....
When I think "high-brow" the item in question doesn't come to mind but a particular type of consumer.. think Wall-Street Yuppie (more specifically Patric Batemen from American Psycho.. the non murderous rampage parts). I can definitely see some rich bastard popping in some new "high-brow" music CD to impress his friends... show off some new high-brow painting on his wall, a new HD-DVD player with Phantom of the Opera... In a STRETCH I can see maybe some indy artsy comic book complimenting his coffee table... no where in this image can I envision gaming fitting in there. I mean can you imagine a Patric Bateman sitting down to play Shadow of Collosus... the problem with this is I can't even see someone like that sitting down to "play" anything.... I think it would have to be something that they would be more proud then ashamed to show off to and IMPRESS their yuppie friends. The most high-brow game of any kind I can think of is probably chess followed distantly by poker, but only in certain settings.
I think for a game to be high-brow it couldn't by it's very nature even exist on a platform such as a PC or home console... When I think of console games the only one that comes close in my book is probably REZ for the DC and PS2... but then there's the whole sitting down to play thing. Beyond that I think the closest we've got is probably BrainAge on the DS and maybe (MAYBE) Lumins on the PSP I think Lumins on the DS would be better though... Both of which I can see in the same stretch as the comics... but that's just my opinion.
I couldn't agree more. I feel a NEED to have a physical copy of my media. I still buy CDs as opposed to downloading my music. If I'm going to pay for it I want it in physical form, I enjoy looking at the cover art, flipping through the book and seeing my collection on a shelf. I still rip most of my CDs so I can stream them throught my house... Which is another benifit of CDs, it's got no protection and thus it's a maliable format that I can use in a number of ways to experience my purchse to it's full extent.
I'm not much of a PC gamer, so I have no experience with Steam, but I do own an Xbox 360 and everytime I purhcase another Xbox Live Arcade game or new maps, even if I'm only paying $5 or $10 I start to question how long will I really own that for? what happens with the next console, will I be able to play those games on that... what about 15 or 20 years from now when it will be next to impossble to find an Xbox 360 and I want to play those games again. They'll probably be an emulator but without a physical copy I'd have to "pirate" the games I own just to play them again... assuming that will even be possible. Even today, MS has done a decent job at making the XBLA games FEEL not locked down, though they really are. If my console were to break or hard drive crashed I could replace the hardware and get the game again without a problem, but since it's not the original hardware the DRM features start to rear their head. If someone else wants to play that game they'd have to sign in on my Xbox Live account to do so... Also if I wanted to buy a 2nd console say one for my living room and one for my home theater room that content can't exist in more then one place at a time. There's only one of me... I'll only ever use one copy at a time, it's not a problem with a physical format, I just bring the disc to another room.
You're not alone... a lot of us like having some form of goods for our hard earned $$
I thought the rumor that the PS3 would contain PS2 hardware initially was found to be false. Not to mention if they did that how would they pump out PS2 games in HD resolutions like they've promised?
EXACTLY... I can't believe you were the first person here to realize this
Though I think it's even more simple then that... _DRM_
The problem with OSs like Windows Media Center is that it's just too damn locked down out of the box it can only play propriatary formats if you want to play anything else people have to hunt down codecs and it still complains/wants to convert everything. I would imagine that if apple ever came out with anything they'd want everything converted to their own propriatary formats. The only USEFUL media center PCs are those based on OSS or hacks such as MythTV or Xbox Media Center.
I think cost and appearance also add to it as well. If dropping $1500 on a new LCD is a big deal then dropping that much on a Media Center PC that's fairly locked down in it's capabilities is just stupid. An HD-DVD player is a big investment in the home-theater world and it's only $500, to a consumer a simple device to play music and video files and browse the web should be LESS then that.
As for Appearance home theater people don't want some hulking plastic PC tower sitting in their rack.. heck they don't even FIT properly in a home theater rack. There are companies that make NICE HTPC cases that properly fit in that domain, like Ahanix or Silverstone. I've got an Ahanix MC302 in Black housing a Xbox Media Center and it looks right at home with other Hi-Fi equipment... I woudln't know where to put a PC tower... there's no place for it in my home theater rack.
I agree completely.
Too often people go on and on about how graphics don't matter and gameplay is the only thing that should matter. Get over yourself. Graphics can be just as important as gameplay. I enjoy classic 2D gaming I also enjoy cutting-edge 3D gaming, I'll go from Project Gotham Racing 3 over to Street Fighter 2 without hesitation.. however graphics can make or break a game just as much as gameplay can. A game that looks amazing but has poor gamplay will have me put it down after a few minutes from boredom or frustration. A game that has unique and intuitive gameplay but has crappy graphics will also have me put it down after a couple of minutes because it's distracting.
It's part of the total package. Saying graphics don't matter at all is like saying you only associate with people who have a great personality... or you completely disregard the way a car looks and buy it purely on it's own merits. Lets be honest, graphics are usually what will get you in the door/cause you to approach someone new/take a trip to the dealership.
If you saw someone hideously deformed going down the street, you wouldn't know if they had a great personality unless you went out of your way to get to know them. And even if you did get to know them some people would still find it hard to carry one a conversation when the person in front of them only has half a face, festering skin and a club ear etc... it doesn't make you shallow it just means you have trouble stomaching hideous deformities.
Graphics are part of the complete package, when someone says they don't buy games with bad graphics usually they mean they don't bother to play games that are hideously deformed... because it takes away from the gaming experience as a whole.
Maybe? Maybe not. New console launches typically remind me of how much more vivid human memories are then the real experience. I was a huge fan of Dead or Alive 2 on the Dreamcast. I played it quite frequently, but as time went on I started playing other games. Months later a friend of mine got a newly released Xbox 1 and had Dead or Alive 3. I went to see it and wasn't impressed at all. To me it looked graphically the same as Dead or Alive 2, it didn't even look more shiny. That night I went and fired up DOA2 and to my surpirse it looked like total crap compaired to the DOA3 I had played earlier. My memory of the game was just more vivid then the actual game.
It's not limited to games either: Watch some movie where they do a "good" remake of a classic news broadcast. I've seen several where I look at it and think "wow that's EXACTLY how I remember it" then go and dig up the ACTUAL archived footage and it's all wrong, the camera angle isn't as dramatic the wording sounds funny, maybe you even walk away with a different interpretation. The film director was good at captureing the feeling most people walked away with... but it wasn't the same as how the same old footage would be interperted in today's light.
"What does this mean for gameblogs like Kotaku and Joystiq? If publishers and platform manufacturers don't like the site's messages will they be excluded? The slope here is as slippery as its ever been." -Luke Smith, on 1up
I think your gaming news site would have to have some kind of horrible message that would cause game makers to not want you cover their stuff.
Even if you were worried there are still lots of other conventions.
I couldn't agree more... He complains that modern consoles look like random hunks of pop electronics.. but since when have they NOT looked like that. Consoles have always gone for pop styling. If they were going for the mundaine they'd look like my DVD player or my surround sound reciever. Rectangular in shape, 19" wide, Circular metal feet, tray loading with a standby light and an LCD. Consoles are still distinctivly consoles. They always followed the cultural stylings of the time, it just happens that our stylings used to be different then they are now.
Not to mention if you go pickup an older console they feel like cheap plastic toys. where at newer consoles feel like solid AV equipment. I think the turning point for that was the PS2. Maybe that's what he's talking about? I don't know I sort of like the fact that my White Xbox 360 is likly to STAY white unlike all my old grey consoles that now have a yellow tinge to some of their plastic parts.
Lots of other consoles have had Voice support too. The Dreamast had Seaman, and Alient Front Online. The Gamecube had Mario Party, Odama, and Karioke Revolution, The Xbox and PS2 had Rainbow Six 3, NASCAR 06, Karioke Revolution, etc.... Not to mention that there are instances of voice control in console before those and of course on the PC.
Except Gears of War isn't an FPS... It's 3rd person action game that requires you to use a lot of cover. It bares more similarities to a Splinter Cell then an FPS.
What's your definition of "horribly expensive" a froogle search only turned up 2 hits both $400+ which I would still consider expensive for a game controller.
Thats a good idea, great for media players, RSS readers etc. but it would stifle emulator efforts, which are probably the next biggest set of homebrew apps next to media players. It would certainly be a step in the right direction though.
One problem with that (from the business side) is that MS, and other console makers, sell their console at a loss in hopes of making that money back with the sales of games and accessories. If they sell consoles that people buy just for homebrew then they'll do nothing but loose money on the inital console sale.
Cell phone companies do the same thing but they guarantee they'll make their money back by requiring you sign a contract for service. Consoles, as they are now, can get away with it because it's a closed market. eg you MUST buy Xbox games to play on your Xbox console. It's more of a gamble then the cell market because there is no guarantee that you'll buy games, but the odds are stacked in their favor. Opening up homebrew and the odds they'll make their money back is drasticly reduced.
Basicaly Bill gates is asking how they can allow homebrew applications without lowering the odds that they'll loose money by selling JUST consoles.
there are lots of options for modchips less then $30 so long as you're not afriad to solder something.
They tend to work more reliably and offer more features too, not to mention they're not at all annoying to work with.
If you already have a game and an action replay you, and your xbox is old enough you can re-flash the onboard bios and get the same functionality as a modchip with none of the negatives associated with a softmod.
you mean "false negative"... a "true negative" would be a non-span email _not_ filtered by the spam filter. (which is what you want)
For reference:
False Positive - non-spam marked as spam - BAD
False Negative - spam marked as not spam - BAD (but forgivable if it's a trickle)
True Postive - spam marked as spam - GOOD
True Negative - non-spam marked as not spam - GOOD
Slashdot Mirror
Well, I ment that in the way that I KNOW that he IS male but bungie could have just as easily made him a woman by doing nothing more then changing the script. I ment it in that despite the fact the the MC is male it wouldn't have changed a single aspect of the game had he been female.
According to the link provided the consern wasn't about taste but contamination. Aparently Siliva can contaminate brest milk and spoil it in a matter of hours. Meaning that a few hours after the taste test it would have been useless. Also the security refused to allow her to squirt it on her wrist and lick it off to help prevent contamination.
The real problem with airport security is that they fear what they don't know, and typically being the low-wage uneducated types they don't know much...
The only other female character I can think of that doesn't exploit the female form is Nicole from the Halo games... recently featured in DOA4.
While not a main character she's a spartain and wears the same armor as the Master Chief. Using her in DOA4 it's odd to see what LOOKS like the Master Chief but with a distinctivly female voice. Considering the spartains can be any gender... there's no reason the Master Chief couldn't have been a woman as well.
While MS hasn't announced an official price for the HD-DVD drive they have stated numerous times that an Xbox 360 + HD-DVD drive will be LESS then the cost of a PS3...
This still leaves a big window seeing as they haven't said WHICH version of the 360 ($300 or $400) or WHICH version of the PS3 ($500 or $600) so it prices the drive anywhere between $100 and $300... If you want to tack on the "cheapest HD-DVD player on the market" comment (current cheapest is $500) and consider you'd have to buy an Xbox 360 to use it that would price the HD-DVD add on between $100 and $200.
Considering I already own an Xbox 360 for the gaming aspect a between $100 and $200 external player is a very tempting and reasonably priced offer if I ever decide to go HD-DVD... If the player were to to be higher then $200 then one would assume that the Price of the Xbox 360 itself would be going down, which wouldn't be a bad thing either.
I also agree with the first poster... BRAVO for not MAKING me buy into a next gen video tech until I'm good and ready.
true, I would think if there were more homebrew fans the GPX2s would be more of a competitor... it's a great and interesting plaform but it's certainly not a competitor.
Speaking of homebrew I hear all sorts of Sony fans going on and on about how the PS3 will run Linux and allow for homebrew games. Maybe I'm missing something but I seriously have to question why they would make the PS3 an open platform when in the past they've done nothing but try to stomp out homebrew efforts like those on the PSP.
I totally agree. It's all in the details, the intricate thought behind the piece. I think what makes high-brow high-brow is something that can only really be appreciated by those who care to look for the subtleties. I think in most cases the majority of people are bored to death by a high-brow movie, album, painting, etc....
When I think "high-brow" the item in question doesn't come to mind but a particular type of consumer.. think Wall-Street Yuppie (more specifically Patric Batemen from American Psycho.. the non murderous rampage parts). I can definitely see some rich bastard popping in some new "high-brow" music CD to impress his friends... show off some new high-brow painting on his wall, a new HD-DVD player with Phantom of the Opera... In a STRETCH I can see maybe some indy artsy comic book complimenting his coffee table... no where in this image can I envision gaming fitting in there. I mean can you imagine a Patric Bateman sitting down to play Shadow of Collosus... the problem with this is I can't even see someone like that sitting down to "play" anything.... I think it would have to be something that they would be more proud then ashamed to show off to and IMPRESS their yuppie friends. The most high-brow game of any kind I can think of is probably chess followed distantly by poker, but only in certain settings.
I think for a game to be high-brow it couldn't by it's very nature even exist on a platform such as a PC or home console... When I think of console games the only one that comes close in my book is probably REZ for the DC and PS2... but then there's the whole sitting down to play thing. Beyond that I think the closest we've got is probably BrainAge on the DS and maybe (MAYBE) Lumins on the PSP I think Lumins on the DS would be better though... Both of which I can see in the same stretch as the comics... but that's just my opinion.
I couldn't agree more. I feel a NEED to have a physical copy of my media. I still buy CDs as opposed to downloading my music. If I'm going to pay for it I want it in physical form, I enjoy looking at the cover art, flipping through the book and seeing my collection on a shelf. I still rip most of my CDs so I can stream them throught my house. .. Which is another benifit of CDs, it's got no protection and thus it's a maliable format that I can use in a number of ways to experience my purchse to it's full extent.
I'm not much of a PC gamer, so I have no experience with Steam, but I do own an Xbox 360 and everytime I purhcase another Xbox Live Arcade game or new maps, even if I'm only paying $5 or $10 I start to question how long will I really own that for? what happens with the next console, will I be able to play those games on that... what about 15 or 20 years from now when it will be next to impossble to find an Xbox 360 and I want to play those games again. They'll probably be an emulator but without a physical copy I'd have to "pirate" the games I own just to play them again... assuming that will even be possible. Even today, MS has done a decent job at making the XBLA games FEEL not locked down, though they really are. If my console were to break or hard drive crashed I could replace the hardware and get the game again without a problem, but since it's not the original hardware the DRM features start to rear their head. If someone else wants to play that game they'd have to sign in on my Xbox Live account to do so... Also if I wanted to buy a 2nd console say one for my living room and one for my home theater room that content can't exist in more then one place at a time. There's only one of me... I'll only ever use one copy at a time, it's not a problem with a physical format, I just bring the disc to another room.
You're not alone... a lot of us like having some form of goods for our hard earned $$
I thought the rumor that the PS3 would contain PS2 hardware initially was found to be false. Not to mention if they did that how would they pump out PS2 games in HD resolutions like they've promised?
EXACTLY... I can't believe you were the first person here to realize this
Though I think it's even more simple then that... _DRM_
The problem with OSs like Windows Media Center is that it's just too damn locked down out of the box it can only play propriatary formats if you want to play anything else people have to hunt down codecs and it still complains/wants to convert everything. I would imagine that if apple ever came out with anything they'd want everything converted to their own propriatary formats. The only USEFUL media center PCs are those based on OSS or hacks such as MythTV or Xbox Media Center.
I think cost and appearance also add to it as well. If dropping $1500 on a new LCD is a big deal then dropping that much on a Media Center PC that's fairly locked down in it's capabilities is just stupid. An HD-DVD player is a big investment in the home-theater world and it's only $500, to a consumer a simple device to play music and video files and browse the web should be LESS then that.
As for Appearance home theater people don't want some hulking plastic PC tower sitting in their rack.. heck they don't even FIT properly in a home theater rack. There are companies that make NICE HTPC cases that properly fit in that domain, like Ahanix or Silverstone. I've got an Ahanix MC302 in Black housing a Xbox Media Center and it looks right at home with other Hi-Fi equipment... I woudln't know where to put a PC tower... there's no place for it in my home theater rack.
I agree completely.
Too often people go on and on about how graphics don't matter and gameplay is the only thing that should matter. Get over yourself. Graphics can be just as important as gameplay. I enjoy classic 2D gaming I also enjoy cutting-edge 3D gaming, I'll go from Project Gotham Racing 3 over to Street Fighter 2 without hesitation.. however graphics can make or break a game just as much as gameplay can. A game that looks amazing but has poor gamplay will have me put it down after a few minutes from boredom or frustration. A game that has unique and intuitive gameplay but has crappy graphics will also have me put it down after a couple of minutes because it's distracting.
It's part of the total package. Saying graphics don't matter at all is like saying you only associate with people who have a great personality... or you completely disregard the way a car looks and buy it purely on it's own merits. Lets be honest, graphics are usually what will get you in the door/cause you to approach someone new/take a trip to the dealership.
If you saw someone hideously deformed going down the street, you wouldn't know if they had a great personality unless you went out of your way to get to know them. And even if you did get to know them some people would still find it hard to carry one a conversation when the person in front of them only has half a face, festering skin and a club ear etc... it doesn't make you shallow it just means you have trouble stomaching hideous deformities.
Graphics are part of the complete package, when someone says they don't buy games with bad graphics usually they mean they don't bother to play games that are hideously deformed... because it takes away from the gaming experience as a whole.
Maybe? Maybe not. New console launches typically remind me of how much more vivid human memories are then the real experience. I was a huge fan of Dead or Alive 2 on the Dreamcast. I played it quite frequently, but as time went on I started playing other games. Months later a friend of mine got a newly released Xbox 1 and had Dead or Alive 3. I went to see it and wasn't impressed at all. To me it looked graphically the same as Dead or Alive 2, it didn't even look more shiny. That night I went and fired up DOA2 and to my surpirse it looked like total crap compaired to the DOA3 I had played earlier. My memory of the game was just more vivid then the actual game.
It's not limited to games either: Watch some movie where they do a "good" remake of a classic news broadcast. I've seen several where I look at it and think "wow that's EXACTLY how I remember it" then go and dig up the ACTUAL archived footage and it's all wrong, the camera angle isn't as dramatic the wording sounds funny, maybe you even walk away with a different interpretation. The film director was good at captureing the feeling most people walked away with... but it wasn't the same as how the same old footage would be interperted in today's light.
Patents Filed in 1999 eh?
I guess that box sitting in my basement full of old Nintendo controlers would classify as prior art?
Well someone could setup something along the lines of a SETI@home that does nothing but send random packets and monitor for net throttling...
My monitor almost got a Mountain Dew shower reading that one...
Something tells me Sony flavoring would taste like a cross between licorice and grape soda...
Even if you were worried there are still lots of other conventions.
I couldn't agree more... He complains that modern consoles look like random hunks of pop electronics.. but since when have they NOT looked like that. Consoles have always gone for pop styling. If they were going for the mundaine they'd look like my DVD player or my surround sound reciever. Rectangular in shape, 19" wide, Circular metal feet, tray loading with a standby light and an LCD. Consoles are still distinctivly consoles. They always followed the cultural stylings of the time, it just happens that our stylings used to be different then they are now.
Not to mention if you go pickup an older console they feel like cheap plastic toys. where at newer consoles feel like solid AV equipment. I think the turning point for that was the PS2. Maybe that's what he's talking about? I don't know I sort of like the fact that my White Xbox 360 is likly to STAY white unlike all my old grey consoles that now have a yellow tinge to some of their plastic parts.
Couldn't have said it better myself.
Lots of other consoles have had Voice support too. The Dreamast had Seaman, and Alient Front Online. The Gamecube had Mario Party, Odama, and Karioke Revolution, The Xbox and PS2 had Rainbow Six 3, NASCAR 06, Karioke Revolution, etc.... Not to mention that there are instances of voice control in console before those and of course on the PC.
...Except Halo 3 isn't coming out until 2007 (probably LATE 2007).
Except Gears of War isn't an FPS... It's 3rd person action game that requires you to use a lot of cover. It bares more similarities to a Splinter Cell then an FPS.
What's your definition of "horribly expensive" a froogle search only turned up 2 hits both $400+ which I would still consider expensive for a game controller.
Thats a good idea, great for media players, RSS readers etc. but it would stifle emulator efforts, which are probably the next biggest set of homebrew apps next to media players. It would certainly be a step in the right direction though.
One problem with that (from the business side) is that MS, and other console makers, sell their console at a loss in hopes of making that money back with the sales of games and accessories. If they sell consoles that people buy just for homebrew then they'll do nothing but loose money on the inital console sale.
Cell phone companies do the same thing but they guarantee they'll make their money back by requiring you sign a contract for service. Consoles, as they are now, can get away with it because it's a closed market. eg you MUST buy Xbox games to play on your Xbox console. It's more of a gamble then the cell market because there is no guarantee that you'll buy games, but the odds are stacked in their favor. Opening up homebrew and the odds they'll make their money back is drasticly reduced.
Basicaly Bill gates is asking how they can allow homebrew applications without lowering the odds that they'll loose money by selling JUST consoles.
there are lots of options for modchips less then $30 so long as you're not afriad to solder something.
They tend to work more reliably and offer more features too, not to mention they're not at all annoying to work with.
If you already have a game and an action replay you, and your xbox is old enough you can re-flash the onboard bios and get the same functionality as a modchip with none of the negatives associated with a softmod.
you mean "false negative"... a "true negative" would be a non-span email _not_ filtered by the spam filter. (which is what you want)
For reference:
False Positive - non-spam marked as spam - BAD
False Negative - spam marked as not spam - BAD (but forgivable if it's a trickle)
True Postive - spam marked as spam - GOOD
True Negative - non-spam marked as not spam - GOOD